Abyss Corrupted
by Lunarian
Summary: A distortion of the original story. An experimental work in progress. Ch 7 Updated. The Cheagle's are not as benevolent as they appear. Bonus LukeIon Omake. I really appreciate the reviews, you're wonderful, but could I have some criticism please? Thankyo
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own or have privelege of claiming rights to anything involved with Tales of the Abyss. That's all Namco, and they do it well. I can only lay word that the way I choose to parody the story is my own idea.

**Lunarian:** I found myself with an incredible urge to write some ToA fanfiction. This is what developed.

Title(Probationary): Abyss Corrupted

Chapter 1: A scene to prologue the start

The sky was clear this night affording a breathe taking view of the planet storm as it traveled through the cosmos. Oft in the distance the rising sun could just be made out inking the borders of the land with a pinkish hue. This night was cool and crisp with a gentle breeze to blow across the land.

From great distance a large structure can be seen reaching up in to the sky. Massive buildings created into the rocky surrounding making it a natural fortress.

Built upon the deep crater left behind by a falling meteor lies the capital city to the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, the Holy City of Light Baticul. Housing within its white pristine walls a population of 500,000 from all castes.

Deep down near the point of impact live the peasants, the vast majority of the populace who are not wealthy or particularly skilled, or even lucky enough to have been born of the upper class. Just below the main entrance off to the north the town's port is located, serving as the main docking station for the kingdom's naval vessels. Level with the terrain around it is the main entrance, a long bridge between the road outside and the city proper.

In here are the foundations of the great city. It's general appearance shifted into three levels. On the first level are the upper class, the shops, the coliseum, the training dojo, the local orders's outpost and two lifts on opposing sides of the Inn. The lift on the left side going straight to the third floor while the other goes to the second floor. On the second level houses the towns guards, their council chambers and various anti-siege weaponry. On the highest level, the third, is where the nobility live as well as the guards main barracks. Off to the side of the castle is where the manor of Duke Fon Fabre lives. It is here within these walls protected by the white knights that this story begins.

Lurking on the limb of a tree concealed within its leaves lay a man. He wore a cream colored shirt, open vested with buttons, underneath an orange tailed-jacket. On his hands he had a pair of thick gloves, light brown loosely worn, and his feet were covered in knee-high boots colored the same. Around his waist was a green sash holding up his long fencer sword, of which he is never without. This man is Guy Cecil, loyal servant to the house of Fabre and best friend to Luke Fon Fabre the heir to the Duke. The cool wind ticked the back of his neck as it flowed through his blonde hair while he observed unseen the happenings of the room through the window.

Inside, the room is well furnished with a tasteful decor. Blue carpeting covers the floor and the walls blend in with a lighter blue pattern. Expensive paintings and trinkets litter the room with a few ferns giving it a pleasant atmosphere. In the center of the room is a bed and it is here that Guy is watching attentively.

In the room was Guy's friend Luke, a young man with long shiny red hair and killer abs.

Luke was moving around in the bed without his clothes on, as an equally unclothed maid had joined him in sharing the bed space. Beds were created for the purpose of sleeping in comfort but currently there was a distinct absence of sleeping going on. The very antithesis of sleep was in fact taking place. The young nobleman was partaking in one of his most enjoyed activities, finding and reaching newer levels of pleasure by the moment as his current partner and himself explored each others bodies with wild abandon.

With his viridian eyes Guy, with his voyeuristic nature, watched in pride as his friend did what he did best. He could tell that Luke was in rare form tonight as the occasional squeak of "Oh, master!" and loud "Kyaaah's!" of delight mixed with the much deeper moans of "Ohhh.." and forceful grunts. It wasn't long before he heard them finish as the girl let out a scream of bliss so loud he was afraid it would alert the guards, and wouldn't that be an interesting situation to burst into.

Satisfied now with the latest memories of tonight's events for when he was alone, Guy pulled his pants back up and carefully climbed back down off the tree. His last view into the room was of Luke drifting off to sleep covered snugly with the luxurious blanket and the maid's glistening naked body as she gathered her clothes before retreating to a bath to clean up.

The image still fresh in his mind he hurried back to his room where he could take care of his own issues of cleanliness and satisfaction.

* * *

Soon to be a continuance. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own or have privelege of claiming rights to anything involved with Tales of the Abyss. That's all Namco, and they do it well. I can only lay word that the way I choose to parody the story is my own idea.

**Key**  
Text Narration  
"Text" Dialogue   
'Text' Sarcasm, Saying's, and/or so-called... quotes  
_Text_ Character Thoughts, and/or Character Tittle  
Text Sound Effects

**Chapter 2**

Night passes into Day  
Remday Rem-Decan 23, ND2018

The chill of the night had been replaced by the warmth of the shining sun. Luke was staring out into the wide open sky above, contemplating his life. The stones in the Fonbelt tantalized his vision as they swum in the planet storm. He liked to watch them dancing around like that, free to soar the heavens at thier leisure. He envied them.

At some point during his gazing Luke had started to lose touch with reality. He imagined he was joining the Fon stones in the sky. Distantly he could feel a soft insistent humming sound in his head. With a jerk of his head he shook the thought of and came back to his senses. Looking around his room he sighed at the complete lack of anything to do, so he set off to look around the manor for some fun.

Luke wore what he was most known to wear, an ensemble of clothing that he deemed to be his 'style'. He had on a tight white shirt of fine material and a high neckline, although a large gap was left between the top of his pants and the bottom of the shirt. Whether is was done purely to show off his abs or not was never told, it seemed to be a secret he planned on taking to the grave. On the left and right side of his back his shirt lengthened to twin coat tails running the length of his pants, split in the center. His pants were black and he also had on boots and finger less gloves. The last identyfying feature he had aside from his red hair and turqoise eyes was the symbol on the back of his shirt, looking like an angry demon head formed from ink. He just thought it looked cool.

Stepping down the steps from his room to the courtyard Luke looked around. There was usually nothing going on around this area, but he figured that you never know. Like that one time he caught a few of the maids together getting personal with each other and he joined in, good times.

There was a maid bent over a bench tending to some flowers by the far end. Luke stopped for a moment to admire the great view of her backside she presented. "Good day, Master Luke". The greeting served to snap him from his ogling, though he wouldn't have minded a bit more time. Turning to his right Luke saw old Pere the gardener. He was quietly tending to some flowers as was his custom.

"Hello Pere." Luke answered with a deal of impatience to him and a bit of annoyance as well, he did interrupt a prime view afterall. The old gardener didn't seem to notice, or if he did no mention was made of it wich suited the young noble perfectly well. The old man did however start going on about flowers and waiting for something, though honestly Luke had stopped paying attention.

As Pere yammered on something about flowers warming his heart, Luke nodded distractedly and deemed the talk over with.

Something suddenly caught his eye. Curiously, Luke could see one of his father's many white knights standing at attention at the doorway to the west wing of the manor. It wouldn't have been out of the ordinary to have checked in with his mother first thing, so he asked the knight what was going on.

The guard stood at perfect attention as he answered. "Master Luke, the west hallway is currently off limits. There is a meeting taking place in the Drawing Room."

Experiencing another moment of aggrivation brought on by feeling he was a prisoner in his own home, Luke expertly put the matter aside with long practice. If he let himself sulk and brood everytime he was reminded of his situation he may just miss out on something good. It really did amaze him he was able to remain sane when he was younger and acted that way, before his realization to get as much out of the circumstances as possible.

Walking through the east wing doorway he was immediately greeted by one of the maids. She told him that there was a visitor for him in the meeting hall. Luke felt the day just brightened there, imagine a visitor. He rarely had anyone from outside visit him.

Feeling happier now, he entered the meeting hall only to discover there was no one there. There was only some guards and Ramdas, who decided now would be a good time to lecture him on being friendly with Pere, as if there was ever a good time for lectures. Feeling miffed at the maid's wrong information and Ramdas's irritating tone, Luke cut him off by asking what was happening in the conference room.

Ramdas replied rather stiffly to Luke. "Dorian General Grants is in a meeting with the Duke, on a matter of buisiness."

The thought of Master Van being in the manor made Luke quite excited, in more ways than one. He idly wondered if the buisiness his father was involved in with him was anything like his late night 'study' sessions with his master. He promptly buried that image, labeling it as disturbing. Then he remembered his mother was probably there as well, and quickly stabbed that thought assuring it a swift death. Some things just weren't meant to be thought about and even he had his limits.

While his mind was preoccupied with thoughts better left unthought, Luke's body took him to Guy's room. It was such the obvious choice of where to go next that he did it without even thinking. To his great consternation there was no one there, and this left him wondering where he was. Surely he wasn't with Master Van without him? Miraculously that thought caused his earlier deranged imagination to ressurect itself, this time adding Guy into the equation. _No, no. Guy wouldn't go for that, with a woman there._ Then, he realized what he was thinking, and a green look came to his face.

Luke, now feeling slightly naseous, decided to head back his room and lie down for a moment. He got no further then the foot of his bed however before his head's thrumming came back with a vengeance. There was a distorted voice speaking to him but he could not understand it. The very act of trying to focus on it to hear it caused him to fall to his knees with a grimace of pain.

"Luke! Are you alright?"

Just as sudden as the pain came it went away just as swift. As Luke rose up he regarded the window to see Guy standing on the sill with a concerned look on his face."Guy!" He said in surprise, not having expected him to pop in like that.

"Is it those headaches again?" Guy asked him seriously.

"It's fine, I'm okay now, its gone already." Replied Luke in his best convincing voice, hoping to cut that train of thought off because sometimes his friend could be such a mother hen. He should have known better then to try since Guy knew him so well he could see right through him, he always could.

"They have been getting more frequent lately haven't they?" Guy asked him, looking out the window. "Started when you were kidnapped by the Malkuth Empire, seven years ago right?"

Being reminded of all the problems he has suffered thanks to that kidnapping served well to bring down Luke's mood. "Great, now thanks to them I'm going crazy." He said morbidly.

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about it too much." Guy said bightly, effectively disrupting the dismal mood. "So what do you want to do today, some sword practice?" At seeing the leering look suddenly on Luke's face he quickly clarified, "Not 'that' kind!" He shouted in a half exhasperated, half amused voice. Sometimes it seemed that devious boy wouldn't stop until he got him between the sheets.

"Your loss." Luke kept his indifferent act up for another few seconds before it crumbled before his renewed excitement. "Not today anyway, Master Van is here." Thinking about Van brought forth those images one last time before he succeeded in finally banishing them for good.

"Van's here, but today's not a training day is it?" Guy thought outloud. He did wonder why Luke's face gained a tinge of green for a moment though. He was sure there was quite the crazy story involved there, there usually was.

All Luke really was thinking about now was getting in some training with his teacher. "Apparently something came up." He wasn't even thinking about the other type of sword practice. It had been awhile since he had last gotten to try out his skills under Van's materful eye. It was the closest he would ever get to something outside his manor life. He couldn't wait until the day he came of age, then he could finally travel with him.

Knock, Knock, Knock. Someone knocked on Luke's door from the otherside. "Master Luke? May I come in?" A muffled feminine voice could be heard speaking through the door.

Suddenly looking nervous Guy said. "Uh oh I gotta get going now, I don't want to get caught here." Jumping back out the window the way he came he bid Luke bye. "Later."

Guy's fear of women really did annoy Luke sometimes. He still had something he wanted to ask him, he wanted to know if Guy had any idea what Van was up to.

"Master Luke?" Spoke the maid a little more insistently.

For some reason he just kept getting annoyed today despite his best attempts to overlook it. That in itself is annoying which just, ugh. "Yea yea, I hear you. Come on in it's open."

Coming in, the maid bowed formally to Luke before saying. "His Grace requests your presence in the Drawing Room."

Luke knew better then to flirt with the maids when they were all buisiness like this, more the pity. "All right, dismissed."

He never did like being ordered around, so Luke decided to stop in at Guy's room first on the way as a small act of defiance. When he entered the hallway however he found an interesting situation developing and was glad he took the detour.

Guy was standing in the corner of the hallway shuttered in by two of the manor's maids. Luke laughed when they kept complimenting the terrified man. It was one of those times the girls showed they really weren't all there up top. They could both be extolling Guy's virtues, about how he is charming, nice and refined, all the while ignoring how he makes it obvious he'd rather be anywhere but there.

Luke's laughter clued the group that they had an observer. The maids blushed when he called out teasingly. "I can't turn my back on you for a minute without you charming the ladies, eh Guy?"

At Guy's spluttered denials and increasingly anxious expression the girls turned thier attention back to him. They couldn't help but giggle loudly at what they called Guy acting adorable.

As the fear started to grow Guy looked to Luke in hope. "Help me out here, Luke. I think I'm going to pass out." He said with a trembling voice as his body shook all over.

Feeling mischevious Luke called out teasingly. "Sorry Guy, but Master Van is waiting for me, bye."

The last thing Luke heard as he left the hallway was Guy's screams as he was left to the maid's tender mercies. He was just lucky it wasn't some of the more aggressive maids this time. It was amazing Guy remained a virgin after all this time. _Heh, that's what he gets for spying on me last night and not sticking around._

* * *

To be Continued ... please just drop me a line, even if to ask what the **bLeEp** I'm smoking. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own or have privelege of claiming rights to anything involved with Tales of the Abyss. That's all Namco, and they do it well. I can only lay word that the way I choose to parody the story is my own idea.

**Key**  
Text Narration  
"Text" Dialogue   
'Text' Sarcasm, Saying's, and/or so-called... quotes  
_Text_ Character Thoughts, and/or Character Tittle  
Text Sound Effects

**Chapter 3**

When Luke entered the room the first thing his eyes were immediately drawn toward was of course his master, Van. He was sitting in his chair all regal like he was the duke himself. Never could it be said that he didn't carry himself well.

"You wanted to see me, father?" Luke asked in his best high class voice. He may not follow this whole nobility thing like his father or Ramdas wants, but he would at least give them a token effort every now and then.

"Hmm, have a seat Luke." The Duke said evenly. It was easy to tell he saw right through his son's falseness but for politeness sake didn't say anything taking it at face value.

The facsimile of calmness only lasted on Luke as long as it took to get to his seat. Immediately after he turned to Van and said. "Hey master Van do I get to train with you today." _And maybe later on you can hold me from behind as you correct my attacking stance ... I will lean back into your powerful muscles and ask if your sword is digging into my back. Then you will look me in the eye's as you tell me with a deep voice that you left your sword on the bench._ A goofy grin began to form onto Luke's face as his imagination ran deeper into the realm of the sordid.

Van barely shifted his glance to look at Luke for a second before he replied. "Later, talk first."

The seriousness of Van's voice knocked Luke from his pleasant thoughts. He wiped the smile off his face and paid closer attention. _He didn't have to be so short with me though._

"Dorien General Grants is returning to Daath tomorrow," the Duke said.

This turn of events caught Luke completely off guard. "Huh, why?" Why was Van here just to say he was leaving the next day, that was just dumb.

General Van answered while remaining to not look at Luke, further angering him. "You know I'm a member of the Oracle Knights, part of the Order of Lorelei." He spoke as if the fact was known by all and any who don't know are idiots.

It really grated on his nerve's some days, the way master Van talks all self important like that. Luke was dismayed to realize today was going to be one of those days. His master is great for teaching him both manner of swordplay, but he never seemed to treat him as an equal. Sure it is sometimes enjoyable in a sexual manner, but he was always like this. Seems he just had to put up with it. "Your their commandant."

Luke was rewarded with his retained knowledge of Van's position by the older man turning his head slightly in acknowledgment. "As the leader it is my duty to protect Fon master Ion."

"What's a Fon Master Ion?" Luke just had to know what could make his Master Van call another master. Just the thought of the accomplished soldier being the submissive one for once, sounds so kinky. He had no idea who this Ion was but already he felt like he could like him.

Luke's mother Suzane fielded that question. "He is the leader of the Order of Lorelei. Thanks to Ion the kingdom's of Malkuth and Kimlasca enjoy this truce." Her kind voice was a balm to any negative feelings.

Van took over the explanation with his usual reverberating voice. "If Ion's predecessor Evanos is the hero who ended the Hod war. Then the current Fon Master is a symbol of the peace that reigns today."

"Unfortunately Ion is missing." The Duke said. He didn't look particularly happy about that. Neither did Van actually, now that Luke thought about it. This Ion must really be something special.

"Therefore I must attend to my duty and join the search," were the words Luke heard his master speak. The thing that struck him however was he didn't want Van leaving so soon now that he actually had him here again. The maids had started to develop resistance to his charms and Guy was acting like a wet blanket lately. He needed some good distraction!

"Hold on, you can't do that. If you go back home, who's gonna train me?!" Not that he could tell them all his true reasons, so he gave the best excuse he could come up with at short notice. In retrospect, it was quite weak. He probably didn't help his case by developing a whining tone at the end either. But, damn it. Luke was used to getting his way in most things.

Van took his demands well. He answered back with an indulgent tone. "Heh-heh, settle down. I'll have one of my men come here until I return to Kimlasca."

That was at least something, but Luke wasn't ready to give this up yet. "But I want **you** to teach me." _Among other things._ There was no guarantee after all that whoever Van sent in his place would be receptive to a little fun. He could send someone worse then Ramdas, that would kill all joy.

The Duke seemed to have enough of that particular direction in conversation as he rebuked his son. "Don't be selfish Luke, its high time you learn some patience."

His mother reacted with her customary protectiveness. "Please dear, you know what this child's been through. He is still traumatized from the kidnapping. He even lost his childhood memories the poor dear. Don't you feel for him?"

While Luke appreciated his mother coming to his defense like that, he didn't like that she still referred to him as a child. And did she have to make him sound so helpless? Sure he may have lost his early memories, but he was able to learn enough to function again.

"Suzane", the Duke said severely, "You spoil him".

Now that he was the subject of conversation Luke noticed Van deem it fit to look fully at him finally and told him. "Still, a life locked inside a mansion like this is hardly easy."

_I knew Master Van understood me._ But if he understood then why was he going to leave anyway? Something to think about for later. Luke tried his best to sound unaffected and modest. "Oh I get by... Though seriously, why does my uncle have to keep me trapped in here?" Despite his best efforts his real thoughts on the situation shone through by his words. "Just because he's the King he thinks he can just order people around. Makes me mad". He doesn't take others authority well.

"Luke, my brother is merely concerned for your safety." His mother was trying to put a positive light on it again. "Just three more years and you'll be free. Hold on a little longer, okay?" Her tone of voice was all but pleading. He couldn't find it in himself to refuse her when she got like that so he kept quite.

Van suddenly interrupted, to his relief.. "Cheer up Luke. We'll train hard enough today to make up for the entire time I'm gone." He addressed the table while standing in respect. "Duke, Milady. By your leave, we must begin our training."

"Thank you Dorian General." The master of the manor both acknowledged and dismissed everyone else at once with that simple sentence.

With a final bow for leave-taking Van said. "Join me in the courtyard when you are ready Luke."

The excitement of getting to practice his swordplay drove out the boredom he was beginning to suffer from sitting at the table. Luke was about to follow his trainer for the day, Van, outside when his mother started talking again. Her soft voice worried. "Luke, dear. Please do be careful out there."

With effort he swallowed his annoyance at her over protectiveness, or at least tried to. "I know, I know ... jeez ..." Setting at a rapid walk he hurried to the courtyard.

* * *

Review Replies

Ana Paula92: Thank you, hope you like it ... and incidentally I don't smoke ... weird that.

Killerbunbun: Your review pretty much says exactly the kind of response I was looking for. Heh, I hope I keep it with that spirit.

Phoenix Down: Funny, I didn't think much of how I portrayed Guy. I basically kept him the same except that little quirk I added. I've beaten ToA once so far, and two things made me want to try this. First is the dozens of closed off rooms or obvious blocked paths for no reason. Secondly is I could find a total of nothing except LukexTear and GuyxNatalia. That bores me. I need Luke to have fun with lots more then just that. Right now its kinda canon, but once we hit Engeve I want to try and shake things up a bit.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own or have privelege of claiming rights to anything involved with Tales of the Abyss. That's all Namco, and they do it well. I can only lay word that the way I choose to parody the story is my own idea.

**Key**  
Text Narration  
"Text" Dialogue   
'Text' Sarcasm, Saying's, and/or so-called... quotes  
_Text_ Character Thoughts, and/or Character Tittle  
Text Sound Effects

**Chapter 4**

The first thing that Luke noticed when he entered the courtyard was Guy and Van talking together in whispers. As he was still on the stoop outside of the door he was too far away to hear anything they were saying. _Master Van and Guy leaning close together and whispering with their hot breathe into each others ears? Guy never told me he and Van were like that ... Has Guy been holding out on me?_ He was about to try and sneak up on them to try and eavesdrop when old man Pere noticed him.

"Ah, Master Luke!" Pere shouted out at Luke just when he finished walking past the steps. It almost seemed like he did it on purpose just when he was about to get within hearing distance. _Pere and Guy do share a room together, is he helping to keep Guy's secret?_ It wasn't fair, Guy was supposed to be his servant/friend. He shouldn't be keeping him in the dark to something like this. _If he could deceive me about this, is he lying about being afraid of women too?_ No ... Luke had to stop himself before he started to question everything, he would just be sure to grill Guy later on about why he didn't tell him.

Luke puzzled what Guy would say. Curiously he asked. "Guy, what's up?"

If he wasn't already suspicious then Guy's reaction would have done it anyway. As soon as Luke asked him, Guy turned to him and crossed his arms over his chest defensively telling him. "Well Van **is** a master swordsman, so I thought that I'd ask for a little instruction."

_Sword instruction huh, I'll bet._ Luke would believe that the day his father and Ramdas admitted to being secretly in love with each other and had a man-baby along the way. _I have to stop that or i'll make myself sick._ For some reason today was just full of horror inducing thoughts. He blamed that voice in his head.

Sceptically he told Guy. "Really? That's not what it looked like to me." Now standing directly in front of them he silently dared either one to deny it with a stare.

Before the situation escalated however Luke could feel the familiar sensation of his head blanking out. He couldn't explain it but accompanied with the droning buzzing noise within his mind was the absolute certainty that someone was coming. Even stranger was that just before he was snapped out of it he could of sworn he heard a woman singing.

As suddenly as the feeling came it went away, leaving him staring into the distance oblivious to his surroundings. "Luke ... did you not hear me?" Master Van's voice anchored him back to the present.

Looking around he noticed that while he was distracted Guy and Van walked away from him in different directions. "Huh? Oh, right!" He said when he realized they were waiting on him. Hurriedly Luke got into his own starting position for the training.

Van's posture had assumed his teacher mode, where he would wanted no shenanigan's and would accept only complete obedience. Luke knew better than to fool around when he got like that. The last time he tried that he lost the opportunity to train and the next three weeks as well, he would rather sit through Ramdas's most tiresome lecture then try a repeat of that. "Are you ready?" Van asked him.

Eagerly Luke answered. "Yes, sir!"

"I guess I'll just watch from over here. Let's see what you've got, Luke." Guy said from his position of sitting relaxed on one of the benches.

_That Guy, always watching._ Luke thought in amusement. He was still a little miffed at him though so he dismissively told said. "Yeah, yeah." His tone showed how little attention he gave his friend. Impatient to get started Luke unsheathed his wooden sword and held it in a loose stance, feet slightly apart and sword hand held down at ease.

Once it appeared that Van was satisfied with his pupil's stance he began to instruct him. "Are you ready Luke? We'll start with the basics."

"Yes, Master." Luke answered in a clear voice. He once asked why he was always made to go through all the basics every time as if he didn't know them. Why they could not just skip straight to the cool moves. Master Van told him quite clearly that in order to accomplish anything he needed to have a firm grasp of the essentials, and that he was tested each time to make sure he had not slipped in his training between sessions. _I still don't fully understand that._ It was soon that Luke learned however that the sooner he accepted going through the motions without complaining then the sooner he would learn something new.

"First, movement. Keeping the target dummy in sight move fowards and backwards away from it." Van's first order rang out to Luke as he stood ready. Following orders to action he dashed fowards to within touching distance then back to where he began. _Where did that training dummy come from anyway?_ It was strange how something that large could escape his notice like that.

"Space between you and your enemy is important in battle. Watch the conditions, and respond ... while I actually doubt there will be any need for you to ever fight." Van told him.

Just when Luke felt his master understood him he goes and say something like that. Of course he was going to get into all sorts of cool battles outside and wow everyone with his moves. He said as much, hoping to get his point across. "Humph. I want to show off some cool moves outside."

"This is not something for you to show off." Van rebuked him immediately again showing that dual nature of his. He seemed to go from helping him out and being understanding, to being close minded and treating him like a burden, with no warning. It seemed to be getting worse these days as well. "Next we'll move on to the more common attacks." Van continued.

Luke got in front of the dummy in a ready stance. Feeling raring to go he looked to Maser Van, who started shouting out orders in quick succession.

"Perform a normal slash!" This attack, Van had said, would be the most likely to be used. A fall back to always use whenever either engaging in a battle of attrition or when stalling the enemy to gather power.

Luke sliced across at the dummy's mid section using his left hand only. As his sword made contact with the target it made a noise and was pushed back a fraction.

"Now a strong slash!" Used primarily as the opening attack against an oponent, this attack was also said to be useful in breaking through an enemy's guard or stunning the foe temporarily with an overpowered slam.

With his other hand adding strength to his strike Luke continued his attack by putting more force into each thrust.

"Slash up!" The attack that should be used when facing an enemy that had the higher height advantage, or to knock up an enemy light enough into the air to disorient them and get a few shots in before they recover.

Quickly he reversed his blades motion and swung it into the training tool with a fierce upwards swing.

"Wide Strike!" Effective when surrounded and a little breathing room is needed as well as useful against an enemy that tries to use its lower height to its advantage.

After kicking out with his leg Luke swung his sword in a wide arc across the target, ending with the sword sticking behind him in a position that could easily trip up any enemy trying to corner him.

"Next we'll move on to defense."

Luke figured now would be the best time to voice something he had thought about lately. He tried to ask Guy about it once but all he got for his efforts was being looked at like he suddenly sprouted boobs. "You know, Master?" He said.

The older man looked annoyed when he asked. "What?"

Seeing he had Van's attention Luke continued. "I've always wondered, can't I just take out an enemy before it can attack?

Van got that highly amused look on his face again, the one where he thought someone said something rediculous. "Are you saying you could defeat me, Luke?"

Stuttering in denial Luke tried to back track his words. "Uh... No, I just ..." He decided to hold off on any more questions for awhile, he had suffered quite enough embarrassment for one day.

"So you understand that defense is important." It may have been his imagination but Luke could have sworn that Van looked very smug when he said that, but the look was gone by the time he told Luke. "The dummy will attack at regular intervals, guard against its attack."

"Che, I know that." Luke said in annoyance, still smarting over his earlier mistake. He then watched the dummy make a few swings of its weapon before rushing in to intercept the next one. Holding the sword firmly with his left hand and reinforcing it with the other he blocked the strike allowing himself to slide back a little to lessen the impact.

"Good, defense is a very important skill in battle. You will develop more ways to guard as you gain more experience in fighting. Now, to move on to the Artes." There went Van again contadicting himself, talking about fighting more just after saying how he never expects him to actually battle. "Are you ready Luke?"

"Yes, Master." Luke was very eager, it was only recently that he was able to tap into that power to use an Arte. He hoped if he showed how good he was at it now that Van would teach him another one. "I've been waiting for this. I'm ready anytime you are."

"I taught you Fang Blade, do you remember?" Van asked Luke. He remembered all right since it was only a month ago that he was taught it. He wasn't idle and had been sure to practice when ever he could find the time. He wanted to perfect it so he could impress his teacher into teaching another.

"Yes, Master." He kept his responses short, all the faster with to get to some new tricks with.

"Good, then try it." Commanded Van.

"Yes, Master." Running up close to the dummy Luke concentrated for a second before unleashing the power. Yelling out 'Fang Blade' he performed an ability amplified attack, his sword glowed with a bluish white light as he slashed down then jump lashed upwards cutting through the target and extending high into the air. _There, there was no mistake there. It was just as he showed me._

"All right, this is the end. Perform a combo on the dummy of what you have learned." Van told him, and it was starting to become aggrivating. Van gave him no praise for doing so well. _And what does he mean the end? He better mean the last bit of reviewing old stuff._ If Van cut everything off after this then Luke was going to raise hell, Master or not.

At least he was able to take out some of his frustrations on the dummy. Running up to it he quickly sliced it across, up, down and followed it up by striking three times in rapid succession ending with a 'Fang Blade'. _I'm not even the tiniest bit winded either. All that practice I did on my own paid off._

"Good work." Van said. The problem was Luke couldn't tell if he was just saying it because it was expected or if he had impressed him like he wanted. He didn't get a chance to ask as his teacher kept talking. "You will probably learn new Artes as you gain experience in battle. By gaining more skill you will be able to create your own variations as well."

"New Artes ..." Luke wondrously mumbled to himself. That was precisely what he wanted to do, learning new Artes would bring him a step closer to being acknowledged by Van. If not that, then at least it would add an extra thing to do around the manor.

A sudden flash of something shot across Luke's awareness causing him to lose his last thoughts completely and look around in confusion. "What's that?" Looking to Master Van he was surprised to see him grimacing as he struggled to stand.

A mysterious voice started to sing a really haunting melody then, and Luke watched in astonishment as his teacher was forced down to knee's. "Th- That voice!" Van said with a shocked tone.

Luke tried to rush over to help out Master Van, but he realized with growing horror that his body wasn't obeying him. "I .. I can't move!" He shouted in panic. Thankfully he could still see and hear, he didn't know what he would do if he couldn't.

"That's a fonic hymn! Has a Seventh Fonist invaded the manor?" He heard Pere cry out in a voice that sounded a mix of fear and amazement.

Guy's voice drifted over to Luke next, it sounded weak like it took great strength just to talk. "Damn it... it's putting me to sleep. What the hell are the guards doing?" When Pere and Guy were both seemingly taken off guard by this attack then Luke knew things were bad. Pere always acted like he was beyond anything and Guy had a damn annoying ability to appear untroubled no matter what, except of course for the matter of girls.

Luke was still fighting off his apparent paralysis when he saw what must have been the unknown attacker drop behind Master Van and run at him with the fierce battle cry of. "I've finally found you, Vandesdelca... Prepare to die, traitor!"

Just when it looked like his teacher was going to killed, Luke watched in relief as Van nimbly evaded the strike at the last moment. He found it odd that Master Van seemed to know this woman since he said rather determinedly, "Tear, I knew it!", before going on the attack himself.

The intruder dodged Van with a backflip and landed just a few feet from Luke. He was still in a state of shock over every thing going on, but it seemed he was the only one not in the know and that didn't sit well. "Who the hell are you?" He asked the woman. He couldn't see much from his position, just long brown hair, a cape-like dress, white gloves, and some kind of metal darts help in her hands.

Out of nowhere the recognized humming came back to Luke stronger then ever, he could even feel himself glow strange as it sounded. Whatever it was, it seemed to cancel the power that was stopping him from moving. Feeling energized now he rushed foward to take down this enemy while her back was turned. It might have even worked if Master Van didn't yell out, "No! Stop!", before he could strike.

The wooden sword he held clashed with a strange staff the girl, who seemed to be named Tear, wasn't holding a second ago. A strange rippling grew within the space where they collided and for the first time Luke heard that strange voice clearly. "Resound...! The will of Lorelei shall reach you... and open the way!" Not that he understood it.

"Not that weird voice again." He complained.

The girl standing across from him finally sounded surprised and not so harsh when she said. "The Seventh Fonon?"

Even if Luke wanted to answer her he found himself completely engulfed within the blinding light that in a flash flowed out from the distortion. The last thing he was aware of before passing out was of the screaming.

* * *

Review Reply

Promimo: Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you liked. I'm finding myself having trouble writing it the way I want. If u have any suggestions I'd love to hear...

Ana Paula92: It is my hope that among the people Luke will have 'fun' with are such characters as Natallia, Anise, Mieu, Noele, Ion ... well, you get the idea. Thats what made me want to write this in the first place ... it's just getting to that point that I hit the snags.

Killerbunbun: Disregarded. Suggestions r welcum.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own or have privelege of claiming rights to anything involved with Tales of the Abyss. That's all Namco, and they do it well. I can only lay word that the way I choose to parody the story is my own idea. 

** Key**   
Text Narration   
"Text" Dialogue   
'Text' Sarcasm, Saying's, and/or so-called... quotes   
_ Text_ Character Thoughts, and/or Character Tittle   
Text Sound Effects 

**Chapter 5**

The returning trip to awareness was a slow one for Luke. He was pulled from forgotten dreams as he gradually began to get the sense of someone being close by. As he struggled to regain full consciousness he heard a voice talking. Concentrating on that voice he was finally able to come around and understand the words being said. 

Wake up, Luke!" The voice demanded. 

Now fully aware, Luke was able to open his eyes and look at whomever was speaking to him. He didn't recognize the person. It was a girl, looking to be close to his own age, with long pale brown hair and light blue eyes. Under normal circumstances he wold say she was quite pretty, but he was still feeling very off center. "Who are you?" He asked her, his confusion seeping into his voice. 

"Oh good, you're ok." The strange woman told him. 

She didn't answer his question, but from where he was sitting down another question became more important. "Where are we?" He could see grass, hills and beautiful flowers he had never seen before. 

"I don't know, that was pretty strong. I almost thought we'd been caught in the planet storm." Her words brought him no reassurance. It seemed he had somehow found himself in a place he had never been with a person he had never known. 

As he looked a little more closely at the girl kneeling in front of him, to try and place her face, he recognized her as the intruder. "Wait a minute, you were tryin to..." He tried to get up, only to grimace in pain from moving too fast while injured. "Oww!" 

The girl who had tried to kill Master Van was now acting as if nothing happened and she wasn't an assassin. "Stop, don't try to move so suddenly. Are you injured? Where does it hurt?" She asked him, and he was finding it hard to remember why he was upset at her. She had her head bent downwards and the long bangs of her hair obscured her face. 

He had to push her away and step backwards a few steps, his pain faded. "I'm fine" He answered her. "What the hell happened, and who are you?" He had enough of her avoiding the question. He needed to know where they stood, was she really an evil killer or what ... her actions were contradicting. 

She came closer to him, standing at arms length. "I'm Tear." She started off, finally answering Luke's most pertinent question. "It would seem that a hyperresonance occurred between us." She said. _Just when I thought she would start making sense._ Luke thought annoyed. 

The completely unfamiliar word just added to his disorientation. "A hyperresonance? What's that?" 

He had barely finished asking her when she was instantly in his face, so close he couldn't stop himself from leaning back from the sudden intrusion. "An isofon-induced resonance. I didn't expect **you** to be a seventh fonist, too. That was careless of me." She said to him as if it actually explained anything and all these words were not all new to him. She stayed at that very close position as she continue to not make any sense. "That would explain why the royal family is protecting you." 

Luke was'nt intimidated by her closeness, but he felt he had to get some distance between them again, thinking maybe her words would make more sense from afar. It didn't really help so he was left with no choice but to interrupt her. "Gah, shut up for a second. I don't understand a thing you're saying." He was happy to note she finally stopped talking about odd things, but she wasn't explaining anything either. 

A few seconds passed with her staring at him without uttering a word. The only sound he could hear was the chirping of the crickets and the howl of the wind. "Well, say something!" Luke ordered her when she remained silent. 

She said to him. "First you tell me to shut up, now you're telling me to talk. Save the discussion for later." Such a smart response she gave, he wished he was more on game so he could give her back the same. Speaking of back, she provided him with a nice view of her's just now. His natural appreciation for a good looking girl couldn't be repressed fully despite the situation. "Save the discussion for later." He stopped checking her out when she talked again. "You don't seem to know anything, so talking here would be a waste of time." 

Luke mentally added rudeness along with cheek to the qualities of this girl, this Tear. Unfortunately he seemed to be left with no choice but to follow her lead. "So ... what now?" He asked. 

She walked away from him saying. "I'll escort you back to your manor in Baticul." 

It was a relief that she wasn't going to try and kill him like what she tried on Van. "How? We don't even know where we are." All Luke knew was the manor, he would have to stick close to Tear if she knew the way back. 

Tear stopped walking to point behind him. "You see the sea just over there, don't you?" She asked. He hadn't seen much of anything just yet, he was too busy paying attention to her words. When she mentioned the sea however he started to get a more expansive look around. 

Luke turned around to look out across the sea that Tear mentioned, having never seen one before he was curious. He found the site breathetaking. Far acoss a long patch of bright blooming flowers he saw a valley of cliffs with the middle being filled with blue. He knew the blue was water, but it didn't look like any water he had known before. It was moving and the color was different. "So that's what the sea looks like." He said, as he took it all in. 

Tear did not seem to care to give him anytime to appreciate the view because she interrupted his watching. "At any rate, let's head out of this ravine and down to the coast. If we can find a road, there should be carriages passing along, and we should be able to find a way back." 

Torn from his gazing at the sea Luke looked back to the girl. So straight foward she was, but he was starting to find himself warming up to her. She had been kind to him and hadn't treated him like a burden, an improvement over people like his father. He wondered if she would like to stay around to get better acquainted when they got back to the manor, that whole scene with Van must have been a mistake. 

"And just how are we supposed to get to the sea from here?" Luke asked. 

"Stop and listen, do you hear that water running? That flowing water is a river and we can follow it to the sea." She said. 

Luke was bemused by the logic. "Huh, is that how it works?" 

"Let's go." Tear said. It seemed to Luke she was getting short with him. But, it's not his fault that he was never taught about these things. Maybe, he could use this outing to learn more about the things he had been missing. 

Luke took one more chance to look around before catching up to Tear, the view was that nice. Pere would kill to plant some of these flowers at the manor. He was almost to where Tear was waiting when some bushes ahead started to rustle. He didn't know what to think, he half expected to have stumbled upon some couple having a night of fun. 

Luke was soon shown how wrong he was, when Tear held out her hand signaling a stop. "Monsters.." She said. 

That surprised Luke, it was the last thing he thought of. "Monsters?" He repeated. Now, that he thought about it, this was exactly the thing he was waiting for. Ever since Master Van and Guy had started to teach him swordplay, he had been achingly eager to test those skills against something better then that training dummy. 

"Here they come." Tear said, as she got into a fighting stance. 

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Luke said. He wanted to test his skills sure, but this was all happening a little too fast. He tensed up as the monster jumped out, startling him from his first look at a monster. 

The beast was large, a head taller then Luke. It was some kind of huge purple and tan boar with thick tusks. "What's that?" Luke asked. 

"It's a Rhinossus, it won't give us any trouble." Tear said. 

Luke still acted hesitant, backing away cautiously from the creature as he drew out his sword. The beast reared up on to its hind legs looking like it was about to charge, but suddenly the familiar haunting melody echoed through the woods. Luke was keeping an eye on Tear this time so he saw what happened. 

She held her staff in front of herself and sang while a circle of light appeared by her feet, then swirling dark purple bubbles surrounded the enemy. When the bubbles went away the boar was revealed to be not moving. 

"It's asleep, Luke. Now, attack quickly before it wakes up." Tear said, after he looked back at her to see her reaction. Finally he was able to master up the resolution to fight, and when he started it all came together and his earlier hesitation seemed silly. 

Luke made short work of the Rhinossus now that he stopped worrying. A combination strong slice attack going into a three hit followup and finishing with a fang blade later, and it was dead. In victory he performed a little trick he'd work on in his spare time with his sword. He flipped it up into the air, spun around and caught it again. "Too easy." He said, sure it would impress Tear. 

"Your footwork was sloppy, you missed its vital points! You were a mess." Tear told Luke, showing him it wasn't gonna be that easy. 

He never took well to criticism though, so he stutteringly told her. "Sh- shut up." To save face he quickly changed the subject. "What was that attack you used?" 

"It's called Nightmare, it uses the first fonon to put the enemy to sleep." Tear said. 

Luke sat down for a moment to catch his breath, him still being slightly hurt from the accident. He wasn't even down for more then five seconds before Tear was telling him to get back up again. 

"Don't relax just yet. Look, there's more." She said. After she said that, he saw a different monster going by ahead looking like some kind of flying vegetable. "If you come into contact with monsters like that you'll have to fight them. Be careful." Tear lectured him. 

"Think you know everything, don't you?" Luke grumbled. He didn't like to be seen as helpless and all these common sense tips she was giving him were somewhat insulting. 

She gave no response to him, which was fine since he wasn't in an arguing mood. They then proceeded to make their way down the valley, opening chests of useful items on the way and dodging the wandering monsters. Every now and then one of the monsters or its companions would catch up to them and they would be forced to fight, but after the initial beginnings Luke and Tear started to get good in their teamwork and there was no challenge. 

It wasn't until they reached the bottom that something happened. Luke and Tear followed the path to the exit, meeting a man carrying a bucket there. 

When he saw them he stopped walking and said. "Uah, d-don't tell me you're with the Dark Wings?" Luke had no idea what he was talking about, but before he could ask Tear beat him to it. 

"The Dark Wings?" Tear asked. It seems that she didn't know everything afterall, a fact Luke was most happy about. 

"They're bandits, two men and a woman." The guy said, looking like he was about to run away. "Wait a minute, there's only two of you." He then observed with a relieved tone, apparently no longer thinking they were bandits. 

Luke felt pretty mad that he could be mistaken for a bandit, he was royalty for crying out loud. "Humph. Don't go comparing me to some pathetic bandits." He arrogantly said. 

"Yes, you might upset the bandits." Tear said. 

"Hey..." Luke complained. "Like you're so hot." For some supposed great assassin she wasn't all that more powerful then himself, someone who was kept locked away. Or maybe he was just that good. _She's so cold too._ Despite his best efforts she did not seem to be warming up to him at all, and somehow he didn't thing she would accept some overt advances. _If I knew I was going to be stuck together with such a person I would've spent more time with the maids yesterday._

Soon after they found out that the man was a coachman who had stopped to refill his water jugs. Luke said. "A coachman, that's perfect." He was just a short trip on a coach away from home now. 

Tear just had to show him up again by asking the man. "Do you go to the capital?" It didn't occur to Luke to ask that, why wouldn't the coach go to the capital... what else is there. 

It turned out that the coach does go to the capital, it being the last stop. But, the man wouldn't let them ride it unless they payed 12,000Gald each. Tear was aprehensive saying that it was expensive. Luke however finally found something he could be the superior in. 

"That sounds cheap to me. My dad'll take care of it when we reach the capital." Luke told the coachman. Afterall, that little amount of money his dad would probably have in his pockets. 

The coachman was not helpful in the least, demanding payment in advance. Luke wracked his brain trying to think of anything he could do, but he was coming up empty. Tear once again came though when she offered a pendant she wore as payment. 

Aggrivated from his lack of success Luke said. "Huh, you got some nice stuff. Now I don't have to get my shoes dirty." With his best self centered voice. He regretted it immediately after though, because Tear gave him an emotionally blank look before walking ahead on her own. 

_Maybe I went too far._ Luke didn't like how crummy he felt after that. Unfortunately he fell asleep on the coach soon after and forgot about any thoughts of the pendant.

* * *

Review Reply ... 

Ana Paula92: I thank you again. Ill keep at this, tryn to change it to slowly fit the ideal I had in mind. . . You might notice the last part of this chapter was less word for word.. thats what i wanna try. Now im just rambling... hope u still like what i write. 


	6. Chapter 6

Lunarian: After getting no feedback for my last part I'm gonna just write whatever and forget about trying to go together like an actual rewrite. Some suggestions for a better way to write it, or a better format or anything I'd really like. 

Disclaimer: I do not own or have privelege of claiming rights to anything involved with Tales of the Abyss. That's all Namco, and they do it well. I can only lay word that the way I choose to parody the story is my own idea. 

** Key**   
Text Narration   
"Text" Dialogue   
'Text' Sarcasm, Saying's, and/or so-called... quotes   
_ Text_ Character Thoughts, and/or Character Tittle   
Text Sound Effects 

**Chapter 6**

After a dull coach ride, made bearable only because of the view it afforded of the fleeing Dark Wings, the two person party arrived at their destination. Walking up the pathway they got a first look at the town. 

The town of Engeve was a small little hamlet located out in the middle of the Rugnica plains. The positioning of the town enabled them to make use of the trade routes going off in all the directions outward. The people of Engeve supplied those routes with large quanities of farmed produce, wheats and grains. This let the town remain small, all the citizens would contribute to the crop in some way and they took it very seriously as it is the life-blood of their economy. 

Tear's first priority of buisiness was to find out how they could reach Baticul. It didn't take long before she was able to get an answer, unfortunately it wasn't a good one. It seemed that with the bridge out, curse those bandits, now the only way to get back to the kingdom of Kimlasca was through the Kaitzur check point to the south. When she looked to see what Luke's reaction was, she had given up on staying sore at him since he was just too cute when not acting like an arrogant prick, she was dismayed to see he wasn't even paying attention. 

Luke was feeling hungry since he hadn't eaten since what must have been last night. So while Tear was doing her thing he decided to see what he could find to eat. He didn't see a chef anywhere to order his meal from, everywhere he looked he saw people doing things with plants or the dirt. He didn't know what they were doing, it didn't look like a good time to him. He gave up on trying to understand the locals when a shiny red fruit caught his attention. 

It was an apple, the sweet succulent king of the fruit world. It taunted him with its mouth watering juicy flesh covered in a thin yet tasty skin. The apple's color was a bright red and it lured him in, he was helpless to resist the siren call. Luke could hardly stop himself and soon all of the apple's flavor would be his. 

"Does this apple taste as good as it looks?" Luke asked the man sitting down next to a sign with an apple on it. Not waiting for an answer he picked it up and brushed once briskly with his sleeve. "It would be pretty hard to be wouldn't it. Well only one way to find out." He took a bite out of the apple unaware that Tear had arrived to watch the whole thing. 

Sometimes Tear thought that Luke's naivete was cute. Sometimes on the other hand she felt that it was just sad. This was one of those times. Imagine not knowing that you can't just take something when you want it without paying first. Luckily she was able to straighten the situation out with the merchant and the noble dunce. 

Once that fiasco was behind them Tear informed Luke about what she found out. He didn't share her concern that they would need to obtain identity papers, his proposed solution was to wave his father's title in everyones faces. She was left with no choice but to adopt a wait and see approach, as in wait and see if something better then Luke's idiotic idea presented itself. Due in part to the pleading of the wide eyed young man Tear said that they would spend the night in the town. 

"This town seems so poor. Do you think that the inn has only a single bed?" Luke asked Tear. He was sure that he could get her to warm up to him if they shared a bed. The maids of the manor had told him that he gave good massages. All he needed was the right opportunity and he could get her. It was a good thing that his thoughts weren't being said out loud or Tear would have knocked him out to save the trouble. 

"This village isn't poor Luke. Why would you think that?" 

"Just look around you Tear. There are animals wandering around, no mansions, and the roofs have fur on them." 

"It's a farming village Luke, growing crops and raising livestock is what they do. Besides that, take a good look at the people's faces. The people are happy doing their work, they aren't poor." 

They both toured the place for a little bit, checking out the local stores and townsfolk. Aside from learning how to cook Spaghetti from one of the busy mothers there was nothing to hold Luke's interest for long, and even there Tear gave him grief because he supposedly was rude to her. So they returned to the inn planning to get some sleep. As fate would have it however there was a large crowd gathered in front. 

The local populace was all up in arms because all of their storehouse's inventories was dissapearing on them. For some reason they all decided to congregate in front of the inn and were working themselves into a frenzy. 

"It's just food, if you need more then buy it." Luke didn't see the danger in speaking his mind. So when everyone turned on him and started calling him a thief just because of that apple incident, he was shocked. Tear was shocked as well, but chose to stand on the outside and see where this went. 

Seeming to take Luke's silence as a confession, the growing mob frog marched his inert form over to the leader of the city's house, a kind hearted old woman named Rose.. They interrupted a meeting between Rose and a guy in a blue military outfit, but they didn't seem to care. Loudly they condemned Luke as the thief who had been pilfering all their goods. Luke got enough sense to start yelling his innocence at this point but it mattered little to the mob. Before it turned into a lynching, Rose stopped them all and had them explain. 

It was soon discovered that Luke was not in fact part of the Dark Wings, as the townspeople had begun to believe ... and that he was actually innocent just as he kept telling them. The deciding factor in the little drama turned out to be the military man that was there. He confirmed that the Dark Wings had fled to Kimlasca over the now destroyed Roltero bridge. A fact that Tear was trying to convey as well. Luke asked for the name of the man who helped. 

"I'm Colonel Jade Curtiss, Third Division, Malkuth Imperial Forces. And who might you be?" He was a mid 30's aged man with brown hair, glasses and red eyes. He was a man of few words and even less emotions, most commonly alternating between seriousness and sarcasm so fluently half the time those around him didn't know when he switched. 

Luke tried to answer by giving his full name in return, it seemed the appropriate thing to do, when Tear yanked him off to the side. She then informed him that he would be an idiot to tell them who he was because they were in enemy territory. Tear then told Jade their names and made up a lie about them heading for Chesadonia but got on the wrong coach. Then, the final piece of evidence to clear Luke's name came in the form of a young boy. 

He wore lime green ceremonial robes, had long moss green hair and eyes, and spoke with a soft voice that was almost feminine. He was the Fon Master Ion, a purely innocent soul whom wished no harm on anyone, and took his duties as the leader of the knights of Lorelei religiously.. He said that he was curious and took it upon himself to investigate the storehouse. What he found was some fur of a sacred beast called a Cheagle, effectively pointing the culprit to be a cheagle. So Luke was finally free to go after getting some apologies. 

It wasn't until after they had left that Luke realized that was the so-called 'missing' Ion that Master Van was talking about. When he tried to return to question him, Tear stopped him saying they were busy with a meeting and that getting some sleep would be best. When they entered the inn there was one last new face to meet before the day was out. 

A little girl was talking to the inn keeper. "Have you seen the person I was with? A boy, pretty short, kind of out of it?" Her name was Anise Tatlin, a 13 year old Fon Master Guardian, Ion's personal guard. She uses her cheerful cute girl personality to anyone she tries to charm, but only those really close to her knows how she really was. She could be violent, scheming, decietful and manipulative in same breathe as being courteous, polite and friendly. She carried her weapon Tokunaga with her always, an object resembling a stuffed teddy bear that could grow to gigantic size and carry her into battle. 

She was trying to find out where Ion had run off to this time, sometimes she had trouble guardiang him with his sometimes selfless nature. He was just too kind and that often lead to trouble. The innkeeper was no help to her, but she was able to find out from a traveling duo that he was at Rose's place. The boy of the pair told her some disturbng news, that there was rumor of Ion being missing. She thanked the two before running off to inform Ion. 

Some good fortune came about afterall to Luke and Tear, when one of the group from earlier turned out to be the innkeeper. He let them both stay for free. 

"There is more then one bed, damnit." Luke said. When Tear gave him a strange look he quickly ammended. "I mean, oh what luck. Heh." 

Before he got into bed Luke brought up something that was bothering him. It didn't set well with him that he was accussed of being a common thief. He remembered that the Fon Master had suggested that the thief were some 'sacred' beasts called Cheagles. When he asked Tear if she knew what they were she described them as herbivores that lived in the woods nearby that are revered by the order of Lorelei along with Yulia. That seemed a perfect stroke of luck to him. He could find the real culprits clearing his name, and maybe then Tear would stop being on his case all the time about being self centered. He told her as much. 

"We're going to that forest tomorrow." 

"Why?" 

"To capture the real thieves of course." 

Tear didn't have much to say in answer to that, she saw nothing wrong with it and truthfully she did not believe that there would be much success in convincing Luke otherwise, he was very stubborn. Soon Luke was asleep and she found herself watching him. When he was out like this and not displaying that ignorant self centered attitude of his, she found to her surprise that he was actually kind of cute. It was almost adorable how he looked just like a little boy. She wondered what lay in store for the future. 

Tear wasn't stupid, she saw the way Luke looked at her earlier when discussing the sleeping arrangements. It's not that she was adverse to the thought of getting closer, since he had shown he could act in the right way when it is pointed out to him how what he was doing was incorrect, finding him to be cute didn't hurt either. Her thoughts were interrupted when Luke's eyes suddenly opened, he was awake. 

"Whoa!" Luke startled on waking up. "What are you doing staring at me?" His sleep addled mind took note that Tear appeared especially vulnerable at that moment, if he wasn't so tired ... 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." 

"Why would you be staring at someone while they sleep? Just go to bed." 

"I suppose I will, goodnight." 

The rest of the night passed with no event and soon the morning rose and they were ready to start off. First Luke insisted on going back to Rose's house to speak with Ion and finally get to the bottom of this missing buisiness. Shortly afterwards however he was told that Ion was no longer around. This left them back to where they started and were about to leave town when the apple selling man from yesterday approached them. 

"I would like to apoligize again about yesterday. I'm truly sorry, but I wonder if I might ask you a favor?" 

Luke considered it before answeing noncommitedly. "No one's stopping you from asking." 

The man revealed that he had a special box of some importance stolen along with the store's of food. Word had spread and he knew they were headed to the forest, so he asked them if they could keep an eye out for it, and to return it for him if they could. Naturally, he told them he would reward them. Luke agreed readily, he was feeling a little better this day after a well nights rest. 

Nothing further came up as they left the town, so soon they were on the way to the Cheagle's forest. They fought the monsters encountered on the way, gaining more experience. Several battles later and they were standing at the entrance to the forest. 

The cheage woods are a small patch of forest located within a larger woodland area. An abnormally large tree stands out in sharp contrast to the surrounding area marking the place. 

The first thing that Luke noticed as they entered the forest besides the tall trees everywhere, was the person surrounded by monsters. Ion was here in the forest and curently had three monsters covering him from three sides. He was bent over at the knees on the ground breathing hard and looked to be in trouble. 

"He needs help, let's go." Luke said. 

Immediately it was revealed that Ion did not need help after all. Just as the tiger monsters were about to strike he raised his hand. His hand glowed with a bright light as a Fonic circle appeared around him, the spell let out a brilliant shine and the enemies were no more. 

Luke and Tear stopped moving forward when Ion let out his attack showing that he was not as helpless as he looked and was in actuality quite formidable. As soon as his attack died down though Luke noticed that Ion was looking shaky on his feet. He ran forward followed closely by Tear, but he was still too late and Ion fell down backwards fatigued. Tear knelt down next to him and helped him up while Luke asked about his health. 

"Hey, are you ok?" 

"I-I'm fine. I just used too strong a Daathic fonic arte." Ion said. Once he got a good look at Tear he continued. "Oh, you're the two from Engeve yesterday." 

Luke then introduced himself with just his first name. He got his first example of Ion's personality when the first thing he did when learning of him name was to say that in Ancient Ispanian the name Luke means 'light of the sacred flame', and that it was a nice name. Then Tear gave out her full name and rank which also caused Ion to say something completely unexpected. 

Ion said that Tear was Van's younger sister, a fact that Luke was very surprised to learn. When he asked her why she was trying to kill him, she was evasive as always but this time Ion seemed to be curious as well. Luke tried using the added pressure from Ion to get an answer and it seemeed to almost be working, when everyone got distracted from a cheagle wandering by down the path. 

"A cheagle, c'mon everyone let's catch it." Luke said. 

Tear convinced Ion to not question about her brother anymore. She said that it was private, involving her homeland and she didn't want to drag others into it. By this time Luke had gotten far ahead before realizing they were still standing around, so he called to them. 

"Let's go, hurry up!" 

Despite his best efforts Luke soon lost track of the cheagle. "It's no good, it got away." 

Ion told Luke not to worry because the nesting ground was up ahead. It seemed that he was curious about the cheagles strange behavior, since they are normally intelligent and peaceful creatures, and so he did a little looking into it. 

"So it seems that we are both going to the same place then, huh?" Luke commented. 

"Oh, are the two of you also going to investigate the cheagles here?" Ion asked. 

I'm not going to just let people accuse me of doing something I didn't do." Luke said. He hadn't known Ion for long but already he felt he understood just how stubborn he would be. He told him that he would be going with them. 

"Really? You don't mind?" Ion asked hopefully. He was delighted that they weren't going to try and keep him out of it, or send him away. 

Tear tried to scold Luke for trying to bring the Fon master to a place so dangerous, but Luke displayed a surprising level of understanding of Ion. He said if they didn't bring him along then he would just come in on his own. Ion didn't deny that accusation, he just repeated that he had to know. 

"See? Besides we can't just leave a guy with a face so pale he looks like he might die." Luke said, showing the most compassion he'd shown anyone since this whole mess began. It was hard to not be nice to Ion, he was just so innocent. 

"Oh, thank you so much! You're such a nice person Luke." 

It was really different to hear it from someone other then the manor maids. Luke found himself getting embarressed by Ion's praise. "N-No now stop it. Let's just go." He could see Ion still wasn't looking much better. "And don't go using that weird arte again, we'll take care of the fighting." 

Ion did not take the hint and said some more things. It seemed to Luke that Ion was flirting with him. "You're going to protect me? Sir Luke, I'm so moved!" 

"Wha ...?" Luke was being blind sided by the way Ion acted. He was just so genuine it was overwhelming. "Don't call me sir, it's just Luke." He had to turn his face away from Ion's smile, it was making him blush. "L-Let's go." 

"Okay Luke." Ion cheerfully said. Tear was staying quiet for some reason. 

Walking through the forest Luke and Tear continued to fight any of the monsters they encountered, being sure to keep Ion out of harm's way. It wasn't long before the monsters were no longer any trouble to defeat. Searching through the forest uncovered several small medicinal items hidden about, and a small locked box. 

Luke scrutinized the box in his hands, turning it over to see if he could open it. Before he had any success Tear grabbed it out of his hands and placed it within her own pack. 

"Luke, you weren't about to try and open that box were you?" She asked severely. 

"No, of course not." Luke replied weakly. 

"Good, because you made a promise to that man that you wouldn't look in it." Tear was being firm, she would not let Luke get away with such a thing especially in the presence of the Fon Master. 

With that resolved they continued on, soon reaching a patch of forest where the river circled around the large tree. There they saw a little pink cheagle wandering around that Ion said was a child. It ran away when Tear got too close because she was mesmerized by it's cuteness. When they followed it they saw it run into an opening in the tree. There was a small pile of apples on the ground near the entrance, and when one of them was inspected by Ion he observed that they had the mark of Engeve on them. They found the proof.

* * *

So ... yeah that's that. Apparently no one is appreciative of it in the least so I'll probly just keep changing things around for my own amusement. 


	7. Mieu's Uncelebrated Entrance

Disclaimer: I do not own or have privelege of claiming rights to anything involved with Tales of the Abyss. That's all Namco, and they do it well. I can only lay word that the way I choose to parody the story is my own idea influenced through situations I find lacking in the fandom available. 

** Key**   
Text Narration   
"Text" Dialogue   
'Text' Sarcasm, Saying's, and/or so-called... quotes   
_ Text_ Character Thoughts, and/or Character Tittle   
Text Sound Effects 

**Ch 7 - Mieu's Uncelebrated Entrance**

Inside the patch of forest known as the Cheagle Woods with most of the small monsters known as Cheagle's staying inside or around the great tree, a lone young cheagle sat high up on one of the many branches as he sulked. His tribe did not always have to be near the large hollowed out tree for safety. There was a time that the Cheagle frolicked freely through the woods without fear. Unfortunately that all changed and it was all his fault. Mieu missed those days before the accident. 

It wasn't even as if he had done it on purpose. Even now after things were over with it wasn't very clear on what happened. One minute he was sitting in the grass practicing his fire breathing and then suddenly the entire northern region was ablaze. It was a complete accident but all of his family treated him as it was done on purpose. 

All of his brothers and sisters that he used to play with now shunned him. Mieu was ignored by everyone and the elder stripped him of his Cheagle name and gave him the new name Mieu. When the ligers started to demand that they raid the nearby human settlement for food or be eaten, he was sent on more missions than any of the other cheagle's. In his childish optimism he hoped that the elder had done it as a way for Mieu to make amends, but one day he overheard some of the older one's saying that it was in hopes of getting rid of Mieu. Things looked bleak as they stood. 

Mieu didn't know it but his saving grace was fast approaching. He was feeling pretty sad and lonely when all of a sudden a great deal of excitement ran through the area. The last cheagle to get back was telling the elder about some humans that chased it through the woods and were now just outside the tree about to come in. In his haste the cheagle dropped the bulk of its supply of apples it was carrying. 

Mieu watched the meeting take place from a distance so he didn't hear what the other cheagles were saying but he did hear the humans. He listened to how the one with the color of grass claimed relationship with Yulia. Their reactions to hearing 'monster's talk', as the one like an apple said, was funny. While the elder filled the humans in on the situation, through the power of the sorcerer's ring, how they were facing with the ligers, Mieu's curiosity got the better of him so he came closer. 

He arrived in hearing distance just in time to learn that the elder was going to send the humans to the ligers for the grass one to try and make peace with them. Mieu was then called out and told to go with them after the elder told them how it was his fault. After wearing the ring around his waist like a belt so the humans could understand him he introduced himself. "My name's Mieu, pleased to meet you." Poor little Mieu was all set to be ignored by the humans just like his family did, but then amazingly enough it didn't happen. 

Mieu had learned the other's names by now and the one with the really funny expressions called Luke had his face real close to him. Mieu smiled at him hoping for the best. Luke took one good look at him before he declared that. "Something about this thing is really annoying." Mieu didn't understand what he meant but he was happy to be included so he apologized but that only seemed to make Luke more agitated. Clearly Mieu had a lot to learn.

* * *

The elder cheagle could hardly believe the luck of this day. The little one who was the cause of all the tribe's recent hardships simply would not go away. Mieu did not take the hint that he was no longer wanted when everyone ignored him. He also wasn't captured or killed no matter how many times he was sent to the city to steal their crops. It was getting to the point where he contemplated more drastic measures, but then the humans showed up. 

Taking in the the obvious armed group that entered he was afraid that they had come to exterminate them all, he thought the town had wised up and hired assassins. Under that assumption the elder signaled for all of the cheagles to surround the intruders and prepare to ambush them in hopes of overwhelming them. He was relieved when the humans not only didn't realize what he was trying, but also had radically different intentions for coming. The one that wore a white shirt had red hair and a sword seemed to be in charge, after some light prompting from the other two he agreed that they wanted to try and talk reason with the ligers. That was when the elder got a brilliant idea for a sure way of getting rid of Mieu. 

It was a simple matter to arrange for Mieu to go along with the humans as a translator so they could speak to the ligers. All that was needed was the use of one of Yulia's many rings she left behind. Mieu was all too eager to join them like the young fool he was. The elder was sure that the group would be walking towards their own death at the claws of the liger queen, she would never negotiate. And on the off chance that they do succeed he would banish Mieu to join them anyway. If this event was any indication then there would be plenty of opportunities for that little trash to get offed. 

As soon as the party left the tree the elder took it upon himself to spread the good news. That blue menace would trouble the cheagle's no more. The memory of smacking Mieu in the face with the ring and making it look like an accident would bring a smile to his face for years to come, he was sure.

* * *

On the way to the liger den Mieu soon found himself happier then he had been in awhile. Luke would constantly tell him to shoot fireballs at the other monsters or just for fun. With the help of the sorcerer's ring he didn't have any trouble breathing fire on command, it didn't tire him out at all and he got to be appreciated. 

Every time Tear looked down at Mieu she would stare at him wordlessly for awhile before her face would start to turn red, immediately after she would look away. Ion didn't pay much attention to the newest group member, he spent most of his time talking to Luke. 

Tear was really preoccupied with paying attention to Mieu. She couldn't get enough of his small furred body, long floppy ears, voice like a little girl, and the way he would hop around energetically ... he was just so cute. She had never told anyone before but she had a fetish for cute things. When she watched Mieu dawdle along on those short little legs of his she just wanted to pick him up and squeeze the little guy against her breasts and cuddle him all night long. These weren't good thoughts for her to be having while they were fighting monsters so she tried her best to keep it to herself and focus on supporting Luke with her artes and hymns. 

Luke got a chance to display some ingenuity when the group ran into a dead end on the path. Mieu kept telling them that the liger nest was in the north eastern section of the forest, but there was always either a river or a rock cliff blocking the way. Tear suggested that they wade through the water but Luke wasn't keen on getting his clothes all wet. He wouldn't mind if it was just Tear that got wet, she would probably be really sexy. That wasn't happening though and Ion would probably look like a drowned rat because of his heavy robes ... he was so weak right now the current would probably carry him away. 

Purposely not looking at the water like Tear wanted him to Luke cast his gaze on the far bank. There he saw a large tree trunk seemingly help up by vines alone. Thanks to his association with Mieu, Luke's pyrotechnic tendencies had awakened and the first thing he thought to do was have the little guy shoot a fireball at the vines. Things turned out exactly as he imagined they would. The vines burnt away and the log fell over the river creating a make shift bridge exactly as he envisioned it. Well there was one detail of difference, in his mind he pictured Tear jumping up and down topless ... but that wasn't about to happen. 

Luke basked in the feeling of being right and started to get a big ahead about. Ion didn't help matters because he further complimented Luke that the tree's roots were weakened from rot and that it was a good idea. Of course the thought about the roots did not even enter into the young nobles thoughts, but he wasn't about to admit that to anyone. 

Tear, always so quick to defend or speak up for something she found to be cute, admonished Luke. After he bragged about it being nothing she couldn't resist being snide to him. "You're right it was nothing, it was all thanks to Mieu, not you. Good job Mieu." When Mieu turned his wide eyes to her in response she had to look away fast as a flush started to form. 

Mieu wasn't realizing any of the inner tensions or unspoken challenges that were being thrown back and forth between the humans. The only thing he was aware of was him and Luke being useful together and how the red haired boy would tell him to torch things so often. He was happy to be so involved. "Let's go!" He shouted, his cute voice drawing the attention of those around him. 

Luke was not happy with having his thunder stolen by Mieu and being mocked by Tear, he was at least grateful Ion was on his side. He was slowly getting used to the green haired boys mannerisms. Still however, when Mieu called his attention to him his annoyance got the better of him and before he could stop himself he yelled at him. "Shut up Thing!" Then before anymore was said he grabbed Ion's hand and pulled him along across the trunk. "C'mon Ion." 

Words of indifference to the Fon Master about the rude boy died on Tear's lips when she saw him gently guide Ion over the water. _What the hell?"_ She thought to herself. With the way Luke was acting she thought he might be bi-polar. He was rude, selfish, and arrogant one minute and then suddenly all calm, kind and thoughtful the next. First impressions in this case seemed to be completely unreliable. "We must catch up." She said to Mieu who was watching the two walk away with an odd look. Giving no room to protest she picked him up and carrying him like a teddy bear followed. 

After walking for a few minutes Luke realized that he was still holding Ion's hand. Surprised that the other boy didn't say anything about it he stopped walking and turned to him. Ion just looked back at him with that calm smile of his and gave no indication of wanting to let go. Seeing as how he had stopped and now had everyone's attention Luke's mind raced for something to say so he didn't look a fool. He remembered that impressive attack that Ion used earlier and decided now was the time to ask about it. 

Carefully he pulled his hand from Ion's grip and stepped back a few steps saying. "Hey, Ion. I've been wondering about that really strong move you used earlier. Could I learn to do that too?" 

Although disappointed that Luke stopped holding his hand Ion kept his smile on and answered easily. " That was a Daathic fonic arte, Luke. You see it's ... " Was as far as he got before Luke interrupted him. 

Listening to a long lecture was not something Luke wanted to do, and he was sure that whatever else Ion was going to say was very complicated. He had already had tons of new terms thrown his way that everyone else appeared to take as casual knowledge. He'd be damned if he gave another Tear another reason to criticize his upbringing. " Wait a minute, I don't need a long explanation. I just want to know an easy way to get stronger. " He told Ion when he cut in. It didn't occur to him until he said that as the words just tumbled out. 

Even despite Luke's best effort to be nice about it Tear had to be petty and called him 'unbelievable'. No matter how innocent a look he gave her she wouldn't take it back and seemed to be set on giving Luke a hard time. Mieu was being squished to the woman's large breasts and could barely breathe so there was no help from that quarter. 

" Stop it, you two. Please don't fight. " Ion pleaded. " I'll tell you an easy way to get stronger, Luke. " 

Now Luke's attention was on Ion fully. " Really, how? " He asked his new friend eagerly. 

" What kind of capacity core do you use? " Ion asked. 

Just when he thought it was safe for someone to explain something, there had to be another new word. Luke did his best to convey that he didn't know without having to say it, knowing how Tear was just waiting for the chance to pounce. Actually now that he looked at her again she didn't appear to be paying much attention. She was staring at nothing all glassy eyed while poor Mieu's legs could be seen poking from underneath her arms struggling wildly. He ignored that for the moment in favor of prompting Ion. " Capacity cores? " 

" You don't know? " Ion asked in surprise. Luke didn't give himself off as being a very knowledgeable person, but he still liked him. 

Luke was embarrassed to admit it, but at least his personal haranguer was occupied. " I've been somewhat isolated all my life. " He said, severely understating his predicament. Nice guy or not, Luke hadn't known these people long enough to share with them about his amnesia or anything else personal. " Many of these things are new to me. " 

" Then take this, Luke. " Ion said. He walked up to the curious boy and took out something from his robes. It was a small colored object that people wear on themselves to increase abilities, a capacity core. His hands carefully placed it on to Luke's body, pinning it over his heart. Ion's hands lingered a couple seconds more then necessary before he returned to where he was standing. " It looks good on you, Luke. " Ion said admiringly. 

" You think so? " Luke asked. He ran his fingers over his new accessory feeling the smooth texture of the core. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tear still squishing Mieu and made a note to himself to rescue the little guy when he was done talking with Ion. 

" Oh yes, Luke. Very dashing! " Enthused Ion as he ran his eyes over the young man's form appreciatively. 

While Mieu was slowly being suffocated within Tear's over enthusiastic embrace, Ion was informing Luke of how capacity core's work. How they are like an accessory with a fonic arte applied to it, and how when a person equips it their body's abilities increase in accordance with how the verses inscribed dictate and learn special skills. To Luke's dismay, Ion informed him how only Fon Masters could use the Daathic fonic artes and no capacity core could help with that. 

Finally deciding to take pity on Mieu before he passed away Luke ended the conversation with a poignant exclamation in regard to the exclusive artes. " That sucks. " He walked over to right in front of where Tear was looking but she didn't appear to notice. She was off in her own little world and he didn't have a clue what she was thinking. He needed the little cheagle alive though, Mieu had only been with them for a few hours and already he had proven useful. " Hey Tear. " He called trying to get her attention, but she didn't react. 

Giving an apologetic look to Ion as if saying 'I tried doing it the nice way', Luke walked behind Tear. He had thought to shake her or pry open the arms holding Mieu captive, but when he got there a moment of deviousness hit. As he delighted in ogling her shapely rear he could not resist the urge to reach out and touch it. His hand slowly extended, and with a final glance to Ion who was beginning to look flustered at what he saw, Luke gave Tear a sharp pinch on her ass. 

Tear jumped up startled from the sudden goose to her posterior, her zombie-like gaze immediately sharpening. She reflexively raised her arms out and held her weapon in a ready stance being completely unaware of dropping Mieu hard on to the ground where he stayed recovering from his ordeal. Bringing her fiery glare to bear on the offender she saw Luke standing there with his fingers still in the pinching position looking completely unrepentant. She was about to teach him a lesson when he said something that distracted her anger. 

With such an exaggerrated reaction to his little wake up tactic Luke was alarmed to note that Tear now more resembled the assassin he first thought of her as and not the young woman with military training. His mind ran at lightning speed to grasp something that would save him from her retribution. Ion was standing still with a hand over his mouth in a shocked position, no doubt he didn't believe that Luke would actually have gone through with it. On the ground was Mieu, he was stumbling around having trouble standing up straight from the wooziness being smothered gave him. That was where the worried boy got struck with inspiration and ran with it, pointing his hand at the little guy he loudly said to Tear. " Look what you did to that cheagle Tear, he was having trouble breathing. You almost killed the thing! " 

True to form of what Luke hoped for Tear's anger was immediately forgotten as she gasped in surprise to look at Mieu. When she got occupied with that Luke set up a fast pace to continue on their journey. " Come on everyone we've wasted enough time, let's go. " he said in a hurry. He walked stridently to where Ion was still standing and without thinking about it took his hand again. Ion, who was thinking how to suggest to Luke that he shouldn't do something like that again, dropped his train of thought and happily trailed along with his new protector. 

" I'm sorry Mieu. " Tear said softly to the cheagle. Seeing Luke and Ion disappear around the corner she knew they had to catch up. She bent down to pick up Mieu again but he jumped to the side away from her grip 

Mieu had no idea what was going on and it was a little upsetting. One moment he was bouncing along with Luke all worry free, he shot fire at whatever the boy human pointed at and was called thing in return, then suddenly he was picked up and stuffed someplace very warm and soft. He might have been able to enjoy it if there wasn't the problem that he had trouble breathing and no matter how much he wriggled he could not break free. Tear reaching out to him now made him feel really uncomfortable, he had an abrupt desire to be elsewhere and with a long drawn out whine he ran away from her to get to Luke. 

Tear was left behind by everyone now. With the echoing "Mieuuuuuuuuu!", still resonating in the trees she ran after them vowing to make it up to the cute monster.

* * *

OMAKE -:- A Strange Divergence 

Luke and Ion were walking ahead of Tear and Mieu on the path. The soft earthy moss below their shoes soon gave way to the sharp rocks of mountainous design. At one point their positions had become reversed and now the shorter boy was leading the taller onward. Luke was amazed at the frail one's sudden energy as he dragged him past the bushes and braches almost too fast to get a good look at anything. After several more snap changes in direction Ion slowed down as they reached the end of whatever strange trail he had decided to follow. 

"Where are we?" Luke asked. As he looked around all he could see was high overgrown trees blocking out the sunlight and a dark cave in the rock wall. He didn't hear Tear at all and worried for a minute that they lost her before reminding himself that it was just as good that he's not near her at the moment or a certain incident involving her butt might be remembered. 

"This cave will take us to the Liger's Den, Luke. I can feel the seventh fonon leading me." Ion told Luke. He was betting on the ignorance that the novice swordsman exhibited to not realize that what he said was impossible. Sure enough, the only reaction the other boy gave was to dutifully stand up beside Ion and gaze distrustfully into the lightless cavern. 

"How are we supposed to see?" asked Luke sensibly. 

Ion smiled his happy smile. "That's not a problem, see?" He said. Holding out his left arm he closed his eyes in concentration for a moment and a glowing light formed in his palm. He then opened his eyes and gripped the shimmer tightly causing it to rapidly expand outwards shooting out longways until he was holding a golden staff close to a foot shorter then his height with an elongated tuning fork attatchment on the end. His smile widened from his audience's reaction. 

"Wow, that was so cool. Can you fight with that?" Luke asked. Suddenly the once frail Ion wasn't looking so weak anymore. 

He was glad that Luke got such a delight from such a simple little trick, it was much better then the sneers that others would hide from him at the Cathedral because he was too flashy. He couldn't be solemn and tranquil all the time damnit. Sometimes he just wanted to have fun. Anise used to help him with that but she was acting more distant lately and he sometimes saw her in discussion with Mohs, and usually nothing good came from that. 

"I can't fight monsters like you can, but I can do this." Ion said. He brought his staff into the cave and tapped the end against the rock. The echoing ring sounded deep into the hole showing just how far in it went. With the aid of his staff he changed the fonon's given off from the ring into the sixth fonon. A bright light formed on top of his staff's head and with a small use of force he arranged for it to remain indefinitely. "This staff aids me in manipulating the surrounding fonons." He explained for Luke's benefit. 

"I wish I could do that." Luke lamented in a rare opening of himself. Sure he could swing a sword and throw around some killer artes, but he found himself jealous of Ion's ease in performing of the more esoteric. 

"Don't worry, Luke. I'm sure you can learn to, all you have to do is practice." Ion said trying to cheer him up. "Here." He said handing to Luke his staff. "You lead the way." 

It was a small concilation to hold the wondrous orb but he took it graciously. With a nod of thanks Luke recieved Ion's staff and ventured into the cave. Ion took the opportunity to get in nice and close to Luke standing almost on top of him. When Luke looked at him Ion said. "It's so dark in here still that I should stay close to my protector." Ion's inflection when he said 'my protector' was a little strange to Luke but he couldn't quite place where he had heard that tone before. 

Together they traveled into the cave side by side. Luke lighting the way with Ion's staff and Ion clinging to him so tightly that he had to put his arm around him or risk falling over.

* * *

Review Replies - I'm relieved that I finally got some feedback again since I was worried that no one liked it anymore. 

Ariel: I hope you like this new chapter, I could use some nice feedback. 

Ana Paula: Here's to hoping I do a good job on that tightrope balancing between the extremes of too little detail and too much. Thanks for reviewing again. I truly hope this gets some more buzz, heh. 


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